As the Van Buren and Presque Isle girls soccer teams warmed up for a high school preseason tournament game Thursday afternoon, several coaches from other schools stood near one corner of the field, chatting among themselves and gesturing with their hands.

But this was no scouting huddle. No one was watching to see which girl had the best corner kick or which goalie was making the toughest practice saves.

Instead, all eyes were on the stadium field at the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex as Presque Isle unveiled its new artificial FieldTurf soccer field at Presque Isle Middle School, the first artificial surface field north of Orono.

“We’ve walked around on it, kind of oohed and aahed,” said Fort Kent girls soccer coach Kevin St. Jarre, whose Warriors were one of 12 boys and girls teams involved in the 15th annual Presque Isle High School Invitational Soccer Tournament. “We’re impressed with it.”

The field already has become a source of pride for Aroostook County, which has a strong soccer tradition, and should help players learn to play a faster style of soccer.

The turf has raised hopes that Presque Isle eventually will be able to host a Class C or D state championship soccer game. Athletic director Dave Heald said the school has made it known to the Maine Principals’ Association, which decides on state game sites, that the complex will be available.

On Thursday, however, the coaches, players, referees and other visitors were still in awe of the deep-green field, sharp white lines and quick pace of play. There was a faint odor of rubber in the air and the players kicked up sprays of fine black rubber bits as they ran across the field. The rubber pieces eventually will become more compacted as more games are played on the surface.

The artificial surface makes for a much different game, coaches and players said. Balls take more consistent bounces and rolls, the bounces are higher, and the pace of play is quicker.

“It does take some time to get used to,” Madawaska girls coach Dan Cyr said. “It’s a much different game, a lot faster. You have to be able to get a good touch on the ball in order to keep it close.”

Presque Isle juniors Russ Mortland and Warren Zubrick said there’s a big difference in the new surface, and the increased speed of the field likely will benefit the Wildcats.

“We’re going to be so much quicker [than other teams],” Mortland said. “It’s going to be great for the town, too. It does put a lot of pressure on us. With a field like this, other towns and teams are going to be thinking, OK, they’re really good and we have to step up to that.”

Presque Isle girls soccer coach Ralph Michaud said he believes the turf will be more healthful for his players in the long run.

“Physically, it’s a lot nicer to run on,” he said. “In years past we’ve had sore hips, sore backs, sore knees when the ground gets hard. They’ve got a little more pep in their step now.”

Coaches also are excited by the prospect of hosting a state final in northern Maine. The Maine Principals’ Association generally tries to pinpoint the best fields – increasingly, that field has artificial turf – at an in-between distance for the Eastern and Western Maine champions.

County coaches argued Thursday that the sites usually aren’t at a halfway point. Hampden Academy, which has artificial turf at its Weatherbee Complex, for example, is about a 41/2-hour drive from northernmost Maine, while it’s 21/2-3 hours from the southernmost high schools.

The Point Lookout Complex in Northport, which also has artificial turf, is an even longer drive for County teams.

“It would be nice to see,” Cyr said of Presque Isle hosting states. “We have the facility, and I think it would do The County a lot of good to see a high-level of game at the end of the season.”

Even if Presque Isle doesn’t get to play host to a state game, local teams that do get to contend for a state championship likely would try to schedule practice time at the Gehrig Complex, just to get the feel of the turf before the championship game.

Two years ago the Presque Isle boys played Yarmouth, which has turf on its home field, and lost 3-0. The Madawaska girls had a similar experience against North Yarmouth Academy in 2005, when the Owls lost 3-2.

“We’ll have an opportunity to practice on the field,” said Madawaska senior Chelsea Martin. “It will give us a chance to get used to this type of play.”

The improvements and updates to the complex were completed Tuesday afternoon when a crew finished painting lines on the partially resurfaced track that surrounds the field. Northeast Turf of South Portland finished installing the turf in early July.

The project kicked into high gear last winter when the SAD 1 board approved a budget of $650,000, according to a Bangor Daily News story in December 2006. Heald said he was unsure what the final cost was, but the project came in under budget and on time.

SAD 1 had corporate sponsors in Coca-Cola, Maine Mutual and KeyBank, which contributed a total of $130,000. There were also some private donors.

Heald said there were some questions from the public about the cost of the project and other places in the school system where the money could have been put to use. But Heald argues the field eventually will cost about what a natural grass field costs because there’s no repainting, no mowing, no fertilizing and no aerating required. All it needs is an occasional brushing.

“There’s naysayers, but I think once they see it and a few years go by, they’ll find out that maybe it isn’t going to end up costing us any more than it was in the past,” he said.

A funding plan was put into place so that the cost will not affect the district’s budget or the town’s tax rate, according to the December BDN story.

SAD 1 hasn’t worked out a rental rate yet, Heald said, but it likely will resemble that of Hampden Academy, which has a similar field at its complex at the Weatherbee School.

Northern Maine Community College and University of Maine-Presque Isle each will play at least one home game on the new surface.